


Prove It

by KiwiKat_Writes



Category: Transformers: Prime
Genre: Arcee is Guilty tm, Hitting of Helms with Ratchet's Favorite Ratchet, I really like being mean to my characters and idk why, Optimus is Big Sad, Other, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, megatron did a bad, uh oh its an angst, why did I write this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:20:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22394674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KiwiKat_Writes/pseuds/KiwiKat_Writes
Summary: This is a Transformers Prime fanfiction. Let’s get into it!
Kudos: 9





	Prove It

**This is a Transformers Prime fanfiction. Let’s get into it!**

**(Title from Blixemi’s** [ **Prove It** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keeeIaOPzJs) **)**

_ Klik- A second _

_ Joor- 1 hour _

_ Semi-cycle- A month _

_ (Listen to Prove It by Blixemi, as it heavily inspired the creation of this fanfiction.) _

  
  


_ “Arcee, you know we can’t leave the base! Optimus specifically said that-” _

**“Optimus can stuff it! Bumblebee, this is our chance to actually prove ourselves to him!”**

_ “Arcee, listen to me! You will become a full-fledged Autobot, just wait!” _

**“UUGH! You aren’t listening to me! This is the only way we’re gonna prove that we** **can hold our own!”** ** _  
_** _“It isn’t right! This is the way to delay becoming an Autobot!”_

**“Fine! Stay behind! I’m headed out, and if I die, it’s your fault! Remember that!”**

_ “...fine. When are we leaving for Tyger Pax?” _

**“Leave a note, we’re headed out now!”**

_ ‘This is a mistake…’ _

**‘This is the best idea ever!’**

**_Our lives will never be the same again…._ **

Bumblebee dove behind a tree, his intake vents heaving. 

His servos clicked into his stingers, which crackled with electricity. He lunged out, hitting the Decepticon in the neck and electrocuting him. The Cybertronian shrieked, hitting the ground. 

Bumblebee followed him down, pulling his stingers away from the metal. There was one sure thing, that ‘Con was never getting up again. 

From behind him, Arcee had dispatched her own ‘Con.

“See, Bumblebee? Everything’s going fine! We can do this, and we’ll finally be Autobots!” 

Bumblebee did not have the same sentiment. 

He privately thought that Optimus would be very angry at him and Arcee, then give them cleaning ‘privileges’ for several semi-cycles. Of course, he wouldn’t have gone anyways. 

But then Arcee pulled the ‘if-i-die-it’s-on-you’ card, and there Bumblebee was. 

Anyways, they had just cleared the small area they were in. It was a small clearing in the metal of Tyger Pax, and Bumblebee kept his optics and audio receptors on high. 

He had been sparked specially. There was an audio recorder installed on both his arms and a storage unit in his chest, his peds had special sound-muffling procedures, and he had an exceptional gyroscope, giving him the ability to stay both low to the ground and stretched out tall with perfect balance. 

He had been sparked a scout, with everything from extra-strong optics and audio receptors to a soft footfall. In battle, even though he was a huge chatterbox, it was like his voice was switched off for maximum silence.

Back to the clearing. 

He was finally able to relax as he realized that there was no one near. He was still on high alert, but for being in the middle of war, this was a surprisingly quiet area. 

A flash of foreboding sent a shiver down his protoform, and he whipped around. Arcee’s head perked up as she peered into the metal jungle surrounding them. 

Creaks of steps being taken had Bumblebee turning around, and he stiffened when he realized that they were practically surrounded. 

Behind him, Arcee growled.

“Slag…” 

With that, the clearing exploded.

Bumblebee whirled in circles, twisting and turning, firing blasts from his wrists. There were about 10 Cons that had jumped the two, and he had already taken one down. 

Behind him, Arcee panted as she took another down. 

He was getting exhausted. Bumblebee felt all of his sensors go haywire, pointing him to right next to him, when a heavy weight slammed into his side. 

He cried out, getting forced into a building and feeling the robot’s weight crush him.

“BUMBLEBEE!” Arcee’s shriek brought Bumblebee back to reality, and he started to kick and writhe in the Decepticon’s grasp. 

A heavy grunt, and a smack to his head sent him reeling again, going limp. That was one strong mech. 

A huge servo grasped the back of his neck, and he was lifted into the air. 

“So. Here I have one mech and one femme. Tell me, what are you little ones doing in a battle like this?” 

Bumblebee was frozen. He was in the claws of Megatron himself. This was not good.

Arcee froze when she saw the mech that was holding the youngest bot in all Cybertron in his servos.

“Let go of him, Megatron!” 

She quailed under his sharp glare, and she realized exactly what was in store for them. Her vents shuttered as she breathed sharply in, realizing the harsh truth they were subjected to. 

They had to fight Megatron. 

That was the only way to escape with their lives. 

Of course, this was completely idiotic, but they couldn’t run now. Not when Decepticons prowled the clearing and the last youngling on the planet was in the talons of the leader. 

Bumblebee was ex-venting furiously, and Arcee knew that he was beginning to panic. She took a deep breath and leaped. 

Megatron startled the tiniest bit, and that one second of surprise in the Decepticon leader’s normally stony, deadly calm let her kick him upside the head, grabbing Bumblebee and landing in a crouch. 

The huge mech stumbled backwards, rebalancing his gyroscope. Arcee looked at the tiny mech in her arms.

“Bumblebee, you have to get up! We have to fight!” 

Bumblebee pushed himself out of Arcee’s arms, engaging his stingers with a crackle of electricity. 

He stabilised quickly, and turned to face the humongous gray Cybertronian. He had re-stabilized himself, and Bumblebee swallowed when he saw the anger boiling in his bright red optics. 

Megatron growled as he glared at the two Autobots, then his optics widened almost comically.

“Ah, I was wondering why you were so small…” 

He turned to view the main battlefield, where the Autobots were trying to keep the Decepticons away from the former home of the Allspark.

“They are trying to keep us from getting new recruits. I didn’t know that the last sparked scout is right in front of me.” 

Bumblebee felt cold, crippling fear run through his energon tubes. 

Scouts were the first to die in a war, and he was the last one left with the Autobots. He inwardly cursed, getting himself primed for battle.

‘If I hadn’t listened to Arcee, I would be safe right now!’

Bumblebee yelped as a blaster bolt struck right next to his foot, then he realized that he had, unnaturally quickly, moved himself out of the way of death. 

‘Since when was I able to do that???’ 

Another blast shook Bumblebee awake, and he flipped out of the path of destruction. 

His stingers hummed, primed to full power, before he leaped and caught Megatron in the ... knee joint. 

Yeah, Bumblebee hated being short sometimes. 

Anyways, his stingers lodged in, and he shot over a hundred volts of electricity through the titan’s metal body. 

A strangled yell left the huge mech, and Bumblebee took advantage of the temporary paralysis. He clambered up the mech’s body, occasionally taking some time to shock him again. 

“Arcee, run! Get Optimus and the others! I’ll meet up with you guys later!” 

The femme looked about ready to argue, until a shock from Bumblebee almost brought the Decepticon leader to his knees. 

“O-ok. I trust you, Bumblebee.” 

The femme wheeled around, transformed, and zoomed out of the hollow. All on her mind was the fact that she had just left Bumblebee, the smallest autobot, alone with the largest, most dangerous bot in the world. 

She grit her teeth, feeling her plates come together tighter as she raced through the pitted battlefield.

Ratchet grunted as he lifted a large metal plate off of his leg, standing and joining Optimus. 

It had been a little weird what had just happened. 

The Decepticreeps had been attacking, then all of them froze. 

As one they turned and retreated, headed to where Ratchet knew was a clearing in the city. 

This odd behavior wasn’t unwanted though, as it gave the Autobots a few seconds of peace. The open, empty battlefield was haunting, until a blur of blue raced across the horizon. 

Ratchet’s head snapped up as he saw the familiar build of a two-wheeler, a two-wheeler that wasn’t supposed to be here. 

“Arcee! What on the fragging planet are you doing here?” 

“Ratchet, Optimus, come quickly! Megatron’s got Bumblebee!” 

Bumblebee yelped as he was tossed away from Megatron. 

As soon as Arcee had left the hollow, the gunmetal gray bot had stood. It had been a trick, a trick to leave the scout by himself and vulnerable. 

And, of course, when Arcee did leave, Bumblebee was shocked to feel the bot laugh evilly, then he had the worst tailpipe-kicking he had ever had. 

His chest plates were warped and cracked, and his arms and legs were dented and scratched. His doorwings had been retracted early on though, so they were fine. 

Another shout left the tiny yellow-and-black Autobot scout as he was swiped across the face, three scratches showing where the talons landed. 

His bright-blue optics burned as he stared Megatron down, meeting the Decepticon’s ruby-red optics. 

Gritting his teeth, Bumblebee activated his blasters, then fired at Megatron’s face, then to both sides slightly. 

Of course, Megatron completely escaped the supposed trap, and he reached down and grabbed Bumblebee from the arm and hoisted him up.

“Scout, you’re a good fighter, I’ll give you that. But…” 

A hand clasped Bumblebee’s waist, and the other pulled slowly on his arm.

“The scouts must die, and you’re the last. Of course, you’re probably the most loved bot in the Autobot camp, so I have to make this hurt. You will offline, slowly, painfully, and alone.” 

Bumblebee’s optics flashed wide open, then darkened in sudden pain. A shriek left his vocaliser, and his world went dark for a few kliks. 

When they came back online, he registered the odd numbness in his right side first, then he saw the yellow arm held in Megatron’s grasp. 

Energon dripped from the severed limb, and Bumblebee finally felt the fear take complete grasp of his systems. 

Seeing his arm, a part of him ripped away, gave his fear the perfect opening into his processor. His optics brightened in his terror, and Megatron chuckled, deep and dark.

“Soon, little bot, you will die. But first, where is the Autobot base, and where is it weak?”

_ ‘Huh. Interrogation.’ _

“I-I’ll never talk, Megatron.” 

In the background, Bumblebee saw three vehicles slowly trudging their way across the battlefield. 

They could go no faster, because of the potholes, pits, and ditches in the battlefield. As Bumblebee watched, all three transformed, breaking into dead runs toward the clearing. 

Megatron seemed viciously satisfied with Bumblebee’s response to the question.

“I’ve wanted to try this for a while, Autobot.” 

A long finger reached towards the scout’s neck, and quick as a cyber snake, it buried itself within his neck cables. 

Another scream erupted from the youngling, and as he writhed 50 feet above the ground, Megatron’s fingers found their mark. 

Closing around his vocaliser, they crushed it. All Bumblebee was aware of was a sudden explosive pain in his neck and his screeches turned to static and white noise. Megatron paused, listening to the blurting static.

“Huh. It actually worked.”

“MEGATRON!” 

Optimus Prime’s commanding yell was ignoring as Bumblebee’s chest was pierced next, the finger poking and prodding in Bumblebee’s inner wiring. 

A click resounded, and a voice rang over the clearing, freezing everyone.

_ “Bumblebee, we have to go! We have to prove to Optimus that we can fight as well as all the other Autobots!”  _

Optimus glanced to Arcee, who had somehow paled.

_ “Arcee, this isn’t a good idea! We’re explicitly ignoring Optimus!” _

_ “Bumblebee, this is a great idea! Trust me!” _

_ “Arcee, you know we can’t leave the base! Optimus specifically said that-” _

_ “Optimus can stuff it! Bumblebee, this is our chance to actually prove ourselves to him!” _

_ “Arcee, listen to me! You will become a full-fledged Autobot, just wait!” _

_ “UUGH! You aren’t listening to me! This is the only way we’re gonna prove that we can hold our own!” _ _   
_ _ “It isn’t right! This is the way to delay becoming an Autobot!” _

_ “Fine! Stay behind! I’m headed out, and if I die, it’s your fault! Remember that!” _

_ “...fine. When are we leaving for Tyger Pax?” _

_ “Leave a note, we’re headed out now!” _

The recording stopped as everyone in the clearing froze. 

“Well, well, well, I suppose I have to thank you, Arcee, for this wonderful opportunity.” Megatron sneered. He then laughed his EVIL laugh. 

More static burst from Bumblebee, as he finally went limp in Megatron’s hand. 

Megatron looked at the tiny bot in his hand with distaste, before simply letting go. He watched as the scout fell, bouncing against the ground. 

In a flash, the Autobots were there, pushing through the Decepticons and kneeling next to their fallen bot. 

Megatron looked upon the ‘happy’ scene, before turning away.

“Decepticons, we will not get any further today. Retreat.” 

Like a plague entered the clearing, ‘Cons swarmed away from the hollow, with Megatron, who left last without a glance to the now mangled Bumblebee. 

  
  


Ratchet fell to his knees next to the motionless chassis on the ground next to him. Extending a steady hand, he felt for the main energon line in Bumblebee’s neck, his optics widened.

“That no good Pit-slagged-” 

The line of expletives made both Optimus and Arcee wince. 

“Optimus, call for a groundbridge! Now!” 

Optimus nodded and turned aside to make the call. 

Arcee was trembling, and it only got worse when Ratchet fixed his gaze on her.

“Arcee, un-subspace the bandages I know you’ve got, and hurry! I need to stop this!” 

Arcee fumbled the bandages, and passed them to Ratchet.

“W-what happened?”

“Megatron nicked the main energon line. It’s not very large, which is the only reason he hasn’t bled out yet.” 

Ratchet tied the bandages off, and Arcee watched as the pure white slowly but steadily gained a bright blue glow to it. 

A whoosh behind the bots alerted them to the bridge being opened. 

Without saying anything more, Ratchet hauled the scout up bridal-style and dashed through the bridge. Arcee followed, in front of Optimus.

A worried Wheeljack turned back to the bridge from where he had turned to watch Ratchet rush to the medbay. When he saw Arcee and Optimus, he held up a note. 

As he passed the note to Optimus and went to his quarters, he whispered to Arcee:

“Good luck, you’re gonna need it…” 

Bumblebee was floating in a black sea. He slowly onlined his optics, brow furrowing when all he saw was black.

_ Get me that bag, quick- _

He had a sinking feeling that something bad was happening, that him being like this was hurting someone, but he had no clue who.

_ Slaggit, kid, stay alive- _

He saw glimmers of white light, tiny flickers of bots that he knew from somewhere joining him in the midnight-black expanse.

_ I need more bandages, come on- _

Bumblebee winced when a sharp pain ripped through his chest, and he curled into a ball against the stabbing pain in his spark.

_ Pass me the stabilizer, this is no time to freeze, Arcee- _

Arcee….

That name…. He knew that name! 

He remembered, with a flash, a blue and pink femme, a red and white grouchy medic, a tall, blue and red leader-

_ This is no time to die, not yet. _

Ratchet collapsed into a nearby chair. He had just spent several frantic, terrifying joors stabilizing the last scout and last youngling on Cybertron, and only the steady beeping on the spark monitor showed his hard work. 

He was slightly aware of the bot approaching him from behind, and gave a noncommittal grunt to Optimus. 

“Ratchet, are you alright?”

“Just got him stabilized. He won’t wake up for about a semi-cycle, maybe longer. How’s Arcee?”

“She’s in her room. Thinking about her actions.”

“Have you thought of a punishment yet?”

“She’s on probation until Bumblebee wakes up, and she isn’t going to graduate until Bumblebee does. Where is the arm?”

“I have to get a new one. The old one was completely crushed. It’ll be coming in soon. Meanwhile, I think I’m going to go talk to Arcee.” 

Optimus did not miss Ratchet subspacing his favorite wrenches. 

“I will watch Bumblebee while you are gone. If he gets worse or better, I will call you.” 

Ratchet nodded before walking out of the medbay. 

Optimus sighed, sitting next to his unresponsive charge’s berth. He was flashed back to when they found out that Bumblebee even existed:

_ It was a race for the Allspark. And Optimus had completely messed the entire thing up.  _

_ The Allspark was lost in space, probably never to be seen again. This marked the end of the scouts, the incredibly useful scouts.  _

_ There had been a bright flash, right before the Allspark was sent off, and Optimus was still wrapping his mind around what it might have meant.  _

_ He was alone, and that means he was the only one to hear the tiny, staticy clicks and whirrs.  _

_ When he found the tiny yellow and black sparkling, born in the midst of battle, he knew that the little mech would be the last sparkling on Cybertron, and the most important. _

Optimus was shaken out of his memories when Ratchet walked back into the medbay. 

“How is she?”

“A bit shaken up, slightly indignant at her punishment so far, but I feel that she deserves it.” 

Optimus nodded, now entranced with something in his hand. 

Ratchet came and hovered over, seeing what had grasped Optimus’ attention so easily. In the huge palm, Bumblebee’s hand was tiny. His fingers, completely stretched out, not even close to reaching the edge of the Prime’s palm. 

Ratchet placed a hand on his old friend’s shoulder.

“He will be fixed, Optimus. He will become better.”

“What about his vocaliser? He’s too small for an adult one.” 

Ratchet’s face fell, and Optimus felt a sick swell of dread rise in his tanks. His spark lurched as he realized the unspoken truth Ratchet was trying to hide from him. 

“The truth, Optimus? Bumblebee is never going to talk again.”

First to reappear was touch. 

As the small bot drifted closer to the surface, the feeling of a warm sheet and blanket covering him made his spark skip in familiarity. Finally, warmth instead of his relatively cold solidarity. 

Next was scent. 

His olfactory sensors kicked in, bringing a sharp scent of medical supplies to his processor. So he was in the medbay. 

Third to reappear was hearing. He heard voices surrounding him.

“Do you know how much longer he’s going to be under? It’s been a semi-cycle and a half!”

“Do you need to be reminded whose fault it is that he’s even under in the first place? He will wake when he’s ready to wake.”

Last came sight. 

His optics powered on, and as he looked around the medbay, the backs of two Autobots greeted him. 

One was slim, with blue plating and pink highlights. The other was bulky, and white with orange highlights. 

Bumblebee tried to ask what they were talking about, but a fierce pain ripped through his throat and instead of words, a long bout of harsh static rang through the room. 

Both bots startled and whipped around, to the tiny yellow bot coughing on the medical berth. Bumblebee’s chest ached, his right side burned, and he detachedly realized that his arm was still missing. 

The most worrying was his voice. 

He tried to speak again, only to receive another harsh spiel of static. 

“Careful, Bee! You don’t want to burst those bandages, as they’re the only things keeping you from being off-lined right now.” 

Bumblebee tilted his head at Ratchet’s words, then brushed his singular hand over his neck. Upon feeling the bandages, he relaxed a bit. 

: _ Ratchet, what happened to me? _ : 

When the comm. link made it to Ratchet, he accepted the request and spoke to Bumblebee through the comm.

: _ Arcee dragged you out to Tyger Pax, and you got beat up by Megatron. _ : 

When Bumblebee remembered the Decepticon’s harsh words, he shuddered violently. 

It all came back, the elation in taking down the Decepticon leader, then the choking terror when the huge bot got up. 

After that was pain, just pain as Bumblebee’s metal plating endured a beating it had not been designed for. Then, a burning from his right side, then the all-encompassing pain radiating from his neck.

: _ Ratchet, will I ever be able to talk? Why can’t I right now? _ : 

The medic’s optics dimmed in sympathy.

: _ Bumblebee, I’m sorry, but young mechs don’t have the same vocaliser as scouts, and you’re too small for an adult one. _ : 

The truth sank into Bumblebee like a heavy blanket of lead. 

His sensory antennae on top of his head drooped down as he felt his spark sink to the bottom of his chest. His doorwings lowered and his optics dimmed. 

Ratchet placed a hand on the bot’s shoulder, opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. 

“I’m going to go get Optimus. Arcee, stay with Bumblebee.” 

The femme had been standing to the side, looking away from the emotions on the berth. Her head snapped up at Ratchet’s words, and Bumblebee’s spark sank even lower at the morose look in her optics. 

As Ratchet left the medbay, Arcee crept forward.

“Bumblebee, I…” Bumblebee looked at her, already knowing what she was going to say.

: _ You’re sorry that I got hurt, but you don’t regret fighting. _ : 

Arcee’s optics flicked to Bumblebee, and the emotions swimming in them confirmed Bumblebee’s fear.

: _ How long have I been out? _ : 

“You’ve been out for about a semi-cycle and a half.” 

Bumblebee nodded, and the two fell into an awkward silence. 

The door slid open with a pneumatic hiss, and the tall frame of Optimus Prime strode into the medbay. He looked across the room, and crossed to Bumblebee. 

Bumblebee grabbed the Prime as soon as he was close enough and pulled himself into a hug. He had always seen Optimus as a father figure, and he needed comfort sorely right now. 

The Prime wrapped his arms around the tiny yellow subcompact, and Arcee slipped silently out of the medbay, leaving the two to their ‘reunion’.

As Arcee slid the door shut silently, she turned to see Bulkhead waiting outside of the medbay.

“Arcee, is he okay?” 

Arcee squeezed her optics shut, trying to keep the oil tears she knew were coming back.

“B-bulkhead, he’s never going to talk again…” 

The mech recoiled, and Arcee flinched. 

While Bulkhead was still reeling, she rushed to her room, easily dodging the wrench still on the floor from Ratchet and her’s ‘talk’ earlier. 

She collapsed onto her bed, placing her helm in her hands as her normally impeccable posture finally crumbled. She wept openly, little clicks and whirrs filling the room as she cried oily black tears.

Bumblebee felt the tears coursing down his cheeks, and he wondered briefly why he was still able to make the clicks and whirrs of Cybertronian crying. Through blurry optics, he saw Ratchet’s head snap up, and he realized that the mech had thought of something in that lightning-quick way of his. 

A few more kliks passed and Bumblebee was finally able to compose himself. Clicking a few times, he gently pushed himself back up, feeling Optimus slowly draw away until Bumblebee was supporting his own weight. Ratchet was hovering, and he looked as though he had found a hidden stash of pure energon right under the base. 

“Bumblebee, do you remember how sparklings talk? Before their vocalisers completely mature?” Bumblebee tilted his head, recalling the beeping and clicking and whirring of sparkling speech. His optics brightened as he finally worked out for himself what Ratchet had. He cast around, trying to remember how he had made the sound, and was rewarded with a tiny beep. He tried to work out a full sentence, and beeping and clicking filled the room as Bumblebee recalled a language long gone to any Cybertronian except him. Next to him, he could see Optimus smiling softly before his faceguard crashed down over his mouth. Ratchet was smirking, but Bumblebee knew it was more happy than sarcastic or evil. That was his way of jumping for joy. Behind the trio, the door creaked open as Bulkhead poked his head inside, and the Wrecker’s faceplates split into an almost impossible wide grin as he heard his best friend rediscover his voice. 


End file.
